Occupy protesters want Mercedes driver prosecuted

[alp227]

Source: SF Chronicle

Oakland police have done little to investigate an incident in which two Occupy Oakland protesters were hit by a car as they marched down Broadway during the movement's general strike, attorneys for the victims said Friday.

Lance Laverdure, 29, of Fremont and Margaret So, 36, of Oakland were hit by the driver of a silver Mercedes-Benz at 11th Street and Broadway about 7:30 p.m. Nov. 2. BART police, who were first on the scene, briefly interviewed the driver, decided he wasn't drunk and let him go. Then they turned over the investigation to Oakland police.

As of Friday, however, Oakland police had not contacted So or key witnesses, attorneys for So and Laverdure said at a news conference where they showed video footage of the incident.

"As you can see, this is not a hard crime to solve," said Laverdure's attorney, Simona Farrise.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/11/11/MN2A1LTP12.DTL

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video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TpYRFlpoB78

the driver:

[Ian David]

1. I'm surprised Anonymous hasn't solved this yet. n/t

[alp227]

2. how hard is it to hack the state DMV database?

[tcaudilllg]

18. That would be a good hack to make.

The police are becoming more deeply corrupted by the day. At this rate, they will become something truly horrifying... unless they begin turning on their leaders soon.

[harmonicon]

21. How about you do that and let us know, ok? nt.

[RoccoR5955]

34. It would be difficult if it is not on the Internet.

The easiest records to hack are those "in the cloud." I don't know about CA, but I do know that in NY, there is a separate PRIVATE network for DMV and police records.

[lunatica]

3. I hope someone had the presence of mind to take a photo of the license plate

[bengalherder]

7. There is one circulating.

It seems to be a vanity, no numbers. Five letters. Seems to be three initials (which I do not recall, sorry) and Jr. (JR) That is probably a one percenter's kid out there, IMO, the three initials are probably a clue to who he is and why the wheels of justice are grinding so slow in his case.

[zeemike]

4. Not a hard case to solve for sure.

It is clearly assault with intent to do harm.
But the problem may lie with who it is and his connections.

[notadmblnd]

5. I'd bet money that it is a cop.

[CanonRay]

6. Makes sense, he badged them and they let him go.

I think you may have gotten the answer.

[24601]

8. Mercedes on a cop's salary? Didn't intuitively think of them as in

top income tier. If they are, then no wonder California's budget is totally fucked.

[notadmblnd]

9. The Detroit cop I dated drove an Audi

and he was an honest cop. The C class Mercedes runs in the mid 40's as does the Audi A6. So no, a cop can afford a Mercedes easily.

[ooglymoogly]

11. Indeed, who ever heard of a cop on the take. nt

[24601]

26. Impossible - don't unions (pun intended) police their own and

purge the dirty ones from their ranks?

[blackspade]

48. Now that is a joke!

:spray:

If only they did!

[WVRICK13]

24. Kick Backs

can pay well. Dirty cops aren't a shock to anyone.

[saras]

28. You're assuming no income from corruption...

[PavePusher]

38. Perhaps he bought it used?

I'm in the USAF, not exactly a get-rich profession, and I saved my pennies and bought a top-of-line BMW, used, with a few problems that I fixed myself. Ended up with a 10 year old car, less than 45K miles, that will outrun 98% of the vehicles on the road.

It's not always a requirement to be rich to have nice things. Sometimes you just have to put a little work into it.

[TheEuclideanOne]

40. Yep, yet how many individuals in the police force are quick to

follow orders that it just seems odd that they would be following? Unless somebody in each of these police departments is getting their motivations from elsewhere, I find it so bizarre that police officers are quick to just follow these types of orders. If I was a cop, I would strongly be rethinking my career or just resign. Maybe these police officers in mercedes benz and other high end sports cars are just a hint of the underlying cause.


When anybody in the criminal underworld tries to cover up a crime that has been committed, especially one where they want to make sure that nobody knows about the money, they always end up getting caught by the one idiot who earns a low income, but suddenly buys a super expensive sports car.

[sabrina 1]

22. I wouldn't be surprised either. Thought that the first day it happened

Oakland police arrest people who are doing nothing, but can't find this guy? They've done nothing about the criminal who attacked Scott Olsen either, or Sageghi who may have lost his spleen due to their criminal cops.

Maybe Occupiers should hire a private detective. They could use some of the donations to do so, and then if the cops won't do anything about this guy, sue him for everything he has, and the police, and find out who he is connected to.

For a PI, this would be an easy job.

[Swede Atlanta]

10. It sounds to me like the Oakland Police are........

PIGS.....they have suppressed the constitutional rights of citizens to peaceably assemble and petition their government but feel that someone that engages in ILLEGAL activity such as striking someone with a vehicle is okay. They are nothing more than scum nazis.

[ooglymoogly]

12. Nothing could be more clear and more blatant.

Driving to endanger.
Attempted murder with a deadly weapon. etc, etc, etc.

The cop at the very least should be brought up on negligence charges.

[bertman]

13. To put this into perspective just imagine what would have happened to the driver

if he had run over a BART cop in the same manner he ran over the civilians.

This stinks to high heaven.

REC.

[lib_wit_it]

19. Or a Teabagger.

[saras]

29. WE HAVE A WINNER HERE

[PETRUS]

14. K&R and THANK YOU for posting this.

I've been wondering about this ever since the night it happened. We should not let this fade away quietly.

[valerief]

15. But 1%ers can run over whomever they please! It's THEIR world. nt

[KansDem]

25. Weird, huh?

Bush Family Babysitter Killed in Fairfax

Sunday, October 5, 2003; Page C03

A babysitter for the family of Marvin Bush was found dead Monday night outside the family's Fairfax County home, and police said that she had been crushed when her car rolled into her, pinning her between the vehicle and an outbuilding on the property.

Fairfax County police said Bertha Champagne, 62, had worked for several years for Marvin Bush, President Bush's brother, and lived at the family home on Fort Hunt Road in the Alexandria section of Fairfax.

Officer Courtney Young, a police spokeswoman, said Champagne had gone outside the house about 9 p.m. Monday, reportedly to retrieve something from her car.

The vehicle had been in gear, police said, and appeared to have rolled in her direction when Champagne was in front of it.

After pinning Champagne, Young said, the car continued rolling toward Fort Hunt Road, near the intersection of Edgehill Drive.

Champagne was taken to an area hospital and declared dead that evening. Young said she did not know the cause of death.

http://911review.org/Media/Babysitter_Marvin-Bush_Enron.html

[valerief]

30. Bushes and their body counts. They're in the millions thanks to their actions. It's all in a day's

work. It's the Bush way!

[Fire Walk With Me]

16. And the OPD are saying the CAMP is too dangerous!?

[Left Coast2020]

17. I would call the news director at KGO and ask them to air it.

Then maybe occupy the Alameda County DA's office to press attempted homicide charges against this perp.

[valerief]

31. Dissent is dangerous for the 1%ers. nt

[Enthusiast]

20. K&R.............nt

[Swagman]

23. very scary are the replies to that article where people make up

the law as they go along.

One even stating that according to law a car is an extension of the driver therefore thumping the hood is an assault on the driver.

maybe that could be a defense when a driver runs down a pedestrian... "he damaged my underside carriage by thrashing all his broken bones against it"

[bluethruandthru]

27. And scary that the majority of replies to the article think the protesters deserved to get hit!

Most of them saying how the road is for cars and if you're in the road you're fair game!! Really? Would they feel that way if their child was in the road retrieving a lost ball and got hit by a car?? Would they say to the driver who hit their child "That's okay buddy...my kid was wrong to be in the road. He deserved it".
It scares me to know I live in a country populated by so many of these assholes!

[Charlemagne]

32. I tried looking him up in the phone book

But there were no listings for "Asshole."

[mulsh]

33. once again, welcome to the world of OPD.

many of us older natives learned very early in life to steer clear of the local cops. As bad, nasty and corrupt as OPD is I must say that SFPD officers are consistently worse in my experience.

also whenever there has been a combined regional police action in Oakland it has ended up disastrously for us residents. Something about the pack mentality I guess.

[RoccoR5955]

35. Did this get out on Limpballs or something?

Why are so many morons responding to this on the site, in ways that are clearly against the law?
I wanna know, who let the Neanderthals out!

[ML.tp.MD]

36. 1% and police

This driver is probably a Koch son and I will tell you why. Several years ago (I think it was in Kansas because it was in the papers here) one of the Koch brothers (David I think) son ran over a small child who was sitting on a curb. Koch son was not arrested, child was hospitalized, and parents did not sue (probably a huge settlement). Only two stories in paper about the incident. I have tried to run the story down on internet but not savvy enough to get results.

[JDPriestly]

37. Just publish the license plate, vanity or not, on the internet, say on Facebook.

Definitely on Occupy's website. He will be found quite quickly.

[wxgeek7]

39. Deadly weapon?

Wasn't his vehicle used as a deadly weapon?

If the driver had done this to a cop, they wouldn't have hesitated to shoot him for that very reason.

This guy should definitely be in jail, imho.

[KamaAina]

41. WTF were BART police doing above ground?!

BART runs in a subway under Broadway in Oakland. There is a station entrance there, but as far as I know, BART never closed that day, so they wouldn't even have needed a pig officer to secure the entrance.

Remember, if you see any suspicious activity within the BART system, call BART police at 1-800-DONT-SHOOT. :eyes:

[KamaAina]

42. Well, think how difficult it must be to trace the guy's plate

only about 500 people must have seen it. :eyes:

[lbrtbell]

43. Time to hire a private detective

Get the bastard in civil court, and take it from there. A lot of times, the people have to pursue cases the cops won't.

[On the Road]

44. I am Not Normally Given to This Kind of Sentiment

But this is an outrage. That was on purpose and it was murderous behavior.

If the driver claims exonerating circumstances, let his lawyer defend him in court and let him be acquitted by a jury.

[red dog 1]

45. Bart Cops "Briefly interviewed the Driver, Decided He Wasn't Drunk, & Let Him Go?"

[red dog 1]

46. Why No Sobriety Test For This Driver?

[Poll_Blind]

47. I wonder who the guy is who owns that face. nt

PB